I'm not baking this week. The seams on my jeans are in need of a break. Plus, this is the one time a year we have open bowls of candy sitting about. I'm not a real big candy eater, but something possessed me to buy Christmas Sour Patch Kids. Darn those addictive, tart, little buggers. I am putty in their sugary hands.

I am in the midst of list making. And I am not feeling overwhelmed.

Yet.

I'm hoping to keep it that way. I expect a bit of holiday stress, but for reals, this year I want to enjoy it.

The Boy has a gift. He can work lines from the movie Elf seamlessly into *any* conversation. Whenever I lose my temper, he looks at The Girl and says, "She's an angry elf."

I don't want to be an angry elf this year.

Or a cotton-headed ninny muggins.

Or a son of a nutcracker.

So, I'm not.

I've read over this post from last year. I'm so glad I wrote it. It has served as a good reminder of things that worked well, little tweaks to make the holidays easier, and projects I want to work on. I've already marked a couple of these off this year's list. Go me. A few more are on the schedule, and a couple, realistically, will be put off until next year. And I'm OK with that.

How are your preparations going? Big projects in the works? Overwhelmed yet?

Monday, November 29, 2010

As a young girl in backwoods Texas, my Papa would cut a mesquite tree.

As a teen in Minnesota, we would brave the cold and snow and head to the tree farm.

They were special. The whole house would smell of the holidays, and I'm convinced the ornaments looked better hanging on those freshly cut trees.

We have never cut a tree. It's Houston. We get our pumpkins at Kroger and our trees at the tree lot...located at Kroger.

You could tell that our trees came from the Kroger parking lot. They never smelled like anything and the needles would drop from day one. By the time Christmas morning rolled around, it was a lethal mix of fire hazard and porcupine.

Well, not this year.

This year we made our way out to the country. Our destination: Dewberry Farm.

We all climbed onto a hay filled wagon and rode out to the trees.

One of these would be ours; That perfect Christmas tree.

After scrutinizing a multitude of firs, pines, and spruces, we found it: The One.

There were very nice people that would cut the tree for you.

But that would be lame. We didn't come out to the country to have someone else do the dirty work.

The fact that a tool with a sharp edge would now be in play increased the interest level for The Boy considerably.

The Offspring watched with eager anticipation as The Mr. sawed away.

Timber!

It's ours.

Satisfaction.

Man conquers nature.

The cut trees were loaded up and brought to the front of the farm.

While the tree was being prepared for travel, we tried to keep warm.

By Houston standards, it was a chilly day. The wind was blowing and the air was damp.

The Girl was second guessing our decision to travel to a farm for our tree at this point. Kroger is much warmer than the country.

With the tree safely wrapped and in back, we headed home to give it some bling.

Our little family of four is not one to eat turkey for weeks on end. A breast is more than enough to give us our fix.

I've been searching for the perfect wild rice stuffing recipe going on three Thanksgivings now. Each year I've used a different recipe. I'm hoping this is "the one". 2010's version includes walnuts, dried cranberries, fresh sage, and a bit of sausage.

We skip the mashed potatoes and opt for roasted sweet potatoes. No brown sugar or marshmallows needed. I simply peel and cube a bunch of sweet potatoes, toss with olive oil, add salt & pepper, and roast at a high temp. They are caramelized on the outside and soft on the inside. They are like candy.

I treat the Brussels sprouts in a similar fashion: Trim, cut in half, toss with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. The key to good sprouts, in my opinion, is adding another layer of flavor. I will toss in a bit of crumbled bacon as they cook or squeeze some fresh lemon on top as they are removed from the oven. And like the sweet potatoes, cook at a high temp. They should be tender inside with a crunchy outer layer.

Green bean casserole is the bomb. I don't care what you say. I've been known to eat the leftovers for breakfast. It just ain't Thanksgiving without it.

The Boy's favorite part of Thanksgiving is the homemade cranberry sauce. I bought a 3 lb bag of berries so we would not run out this year. However, I fear we will all the same.

I was never a pumpkin pie fan until I started making it with a graham cracker crust. Am I the only one that likes it this way?

That's our plan...how about you?

I'm including a linky. But it's really low pressure. If you don't have a whole menu planned, post a favorite Thanksgiving recipe. Maybe it's a post from last Thanksgiving. Or even a non-Thanksgiving post about something really tasty.

It doesn't have to be current. We are all pressed for time these days.

There are no rules here, peeps.

Please know there are panic stricken folk out in Blog Land that need your assistance.

I'm going to wish all of you happy Thanksgiving preparations. If you need me, I'm in the kitchen.